An incredible article published Thursday detailed the discovery of a potentially devastating threat lurking under Yellowstone National Park.
And no, we’re not talking about the supervolcano.
When most people think of “Yellowstone,” our minds go to either Kevin Costner or the enormous volcanic system sitting under the western U.S., capable of plunging the northern hemisphere into a nuclear winter after its next impending super-eruption. Thankfully, this isn’t due for another few thousand years. In the meantime, scientists are focusing on the explosive potential of the hydrothermal system in the park, known as a phreatic eruption, according to Science News.
Phreatic eruptions are thought to occur when a sudden pulse of heat within a volcanic system turns water to steam, expanding to hundreds of times its volume, shattering everything around it, USGS explained. “Hydrothermal explosions are very, very dangerous,” USGS volcanologist Lisa Morgan told the outlet. And Yellowstone is covered in the scars of previous bangs.
‘Ticking Time Bomb’ Could Silently Kill Thousands One Day: Lake Kivu has the potential to kill more than 2 million people https://t.co/XXhPova0HW pic.twitter.com/vJGrIrl5fh
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An explosion of steam doesn’t sound too scary compared to a traditional volcanic eruption, but it absolutely is. (RELATED: Sick Of The Solar Eclipse? Check Out Exploding Volcanoes Blowing Smoke Rings And Other Cool Stuff Instead)
Back in 1951, a once-peaceful collection of hot springs in Lake City, California, exploded, flinging 300,000 tons of mud and rock and creating a crater the size of 10 football fields. There are more than 10,000 hydrothermal features, like hot springs and geysers, throughout Yellowstone, all of which pose a phreatic risk.
This poses a “dangerous pressure cooker” of a situation. The largest phreatic eruption in Earth’s known history occurred in Mary Bay, Yellowstone. New analysis of the region revealed “it to be a far more hydrothermally and tectonically active lake than anyone had ever expected,” Morgan added. The lakebed is covered in rounded domes where superheated water seeps out, causing minerals to slowly cement and mud to build into a crust. That water eventually gets trapped, creating a bulge.
One such bulge, the North Basin Hydrothermal Dome is roughly 750 meter across (half a mile or so) and rises seven stories from the lake floor. “[I]t’s a perfect candidate for a potential hydrothermal explosion,” Morgan noted.
Boating on Yellowstone Lake in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA, circa 1965. (Photo by Archive Photos/Getty Images)
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, WYOMING – AUGUST 16: Lion Geyser, located in the upper geyser basin, erupts on August 16, 2024 in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. (Photo by Jonathan Newton/Getty Images)
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, WY – MAY 27: General views of Nuphar Lake in the Norris Geyser Basin at Yellowstone National Park on May 27, 2021 in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. (Photo by AaronP/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images)
Unlike traditional volcanic explosions, which typically give a fair bit of warning before going bang, phreatic eruptions can happen out of nowhere. Along with a blast of raw material, earthquakes and tsunamis can occur without warning, Morgan explained. Previous eruptions at Mary Bay ejected 15 times more material than it took to make the Great Pyramid of Giza; that’s 50 times more material than a 104 kiloton atom bomb.
The potential for an atomic-sized explosion potential throughout the park is high. Ongoing research is focused on trying to forecast when the next big one will happen and what conditions contribute to risk of eruption. (RELATED: Massive Ancient Cataclysm At Popular Tourist Hub Revealed By Scientists, And More Could Be Heading Our Way)
For now, experts say “it’s too soon to know” the extent of the risk. But you don’t have to be an expert to realize, it’s pretty darn big.
